What Could Have Been
by Cometstrike
Summary: Clank sees something that catches his attention in The Great Clock-a machine that can show you alternate timelines. Naturally he uses it, and when he does, he sees the importance of having someone by your side to guide you down the right paths in life. In this case, he never knew that Ratchet could've been such a big jerk without Clank there with him. Hints of RXC.


**_ "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." _**  
**_― Albert Einstein_**

* * *

There are things that, when one see them, they cannot help but to question. It almost always may be in regards to its appearance, but in other cases and scenarios it just might just pop out at you for no particular reason at all, like "Hey, here I am! Investigate me!" And thus of course, promptly leads its victim to probe for the mysteries that it contains.

However sometimes, it may be just best to leave certain things alone.

"Sigmund? What is this?"

"Oh, that, sir? That's our AR Terminal System."

Certain things called an _AR Terminal System._

* * *

The Senior Caretaker approached the curious robot from behind, resting his eyes on the machine somehow taking up all the attention in the room despite virtually blending into the paneling behind it. And it had purposely been colored that way (by Sigmund himself) so people wouldn't immediately see it and question it. How Clank managed to even distinguish it, he didn't know.

And now he would have to answer Clank's question, which was coming in three, two, one—

"What is its function?"

Sigmund almost sighed, knowing that he was already backed up into a corner. Clank, of all people just had to notice the machine…

"Well, sir…it's a machine that can tap into other realities and allow you to visit them."

Clank looked vaguely interested, turning to Sigmund, "Allows you to visit other realities?"

"Yes, but you see the catch is that you're not physically there, just a manifestation of yourself," Sigmund continued, hovering over to the machine and detaching a pair of nodes that looked suspiciously similar to glasses. "And you can walk and talk and interact, without the worry of causing a paradox or anything."

"So it shows you an exact mirror of another reality other than the one we are in now?" The smaller robot came closer to the machine as well, inspecting it all over. Next to him, Sigmund began intertwining his fingers nervously. Clank was getting closer and closer to the realization he feared.

"Uh huh…" The red robot replied.

"And does that mean it can also show you other timelines as well?"

Blast it.

"Er…well…" Sigmund dropped his hands in defeat. "Yes, sir…"

Clank, not noticing the other robot's inner turmoil, brought a thoughtful hand up to his chin. "Interesting."

"Yes, you're right sir!" Sigmund blocked Clank's view of the machine by floating directly in front of him. "Now, how's about you go join Ratchet in the Solana Terminal 6? He may need help recalibrating the quantum stabilizers there!"

"Nonsense," Clank said, sidestepping him. "If Ratchet required my help, he would have paged me. Not to mention, he has the assistance of greater than fifty and less than one hundred Zoni there. I want to see what this machine is all about."

"Well, sir, that may not be a good idea," Sigmund said, fiddling with his fingers again. "I mean, having access to numerous multiverses and realities using a machine that can augment reality is a _very_ tempting gamble, but I mean it may have some bad affects on your psyche, I mean you have to think of all the possibilities that have branched off from this timeline and the psychological trauma may be a bit overwhelming because well other realities aren't exactly family friendly and everybody is totally not the same in some timelines and—"

"Hold on." Clank held up a hand, immediately silencing the bigger robot, "You mean you have observed other realities with this machine?"

Sigmund tapped his fingers together, hunching over. "Er, yes sir, I have, out of curiosity…but…"

"But what?"

"Some other realities are just…well, it's best that you don't see them, sir." Sigmund mumbled.

"Well, I am curious too, now that you have disclosed interesting information to me about it. I want o test it out."

Sigmund spread his arms out in front of the machine, standing tall over Clank. "No way, sir! I won't let it happen!"

Frowning, Clank held up a finger, pointing it to the side.

"Yes sir!" Sigmund immediately zoomed over to the side, allowing the smaller robot access to the machine.

"Now, how do you activate this?"

"See, what you have to do is put these goggles on," Sigmund handed them to Clank, "Then the machine will channel your brainwaves into quantum energy and allow access to another reality. Anytime you want to leave that reality, just take the goggles off. Remember, you aren't actually_ there,_ but you'll still have a 'body' to move around in, kinda of like some sort of ghostly apparatus you can see through. And you can make yourself invisible and visible anytime you want to."

"Very innovative," Clank replied, sliding the goggles onto his face. "So do I just—"

The next thing he knew, the world around him suddenly disappeared around him in a rush of blurred colors, winking out in the distance and leaving him in pitch black for a few moments before it came rushing back at him again. Except this time, he wasn't in the Great Clock.

The first thing he was aware of was that he was in someone's house, and this someone must've been either some geek freak or a very accomplished inventor; everywhere Clank looked there were papers strewn all over the place, taped haphazardly to the walls in layers, and now that he looked up, there were some on the ceiling, twenty or so feet above his head.

"Sigmund? Are you there?" Clank asked aloud. The other robot's voice came to him in surround sound, having an echo-y effect to it as well. "I can hear you loud and clear sir. Are you alright?"

"I am fine, but I do not know where I am!"

"You activated the machine. Your physical body is still here, but like I said, you're seeing an augmented reality through those goggles, and just so you know, you're the only one who can hear me."

Oh, he must've accidentally thought of a reality without realizing it. The machine was a sensitive one at that.

"All right, so remind me before I go on…how do I get back to…uh, my reality?" Clank asked the ceiling.

"Just make the movement of pulling goggles off your face. Your body in real life will respond to that only movement by itself, and you'll be back here again. Or, if you want me to, (which you probably will) I can pull them off for you and end the vision for you. So, don't worry about getting stuck there forever or anything."

"Alright. Can you see where I am at?"

"Yessir, I have a direct, almost-omnipresent view of the reality you're in right now, thanks to another technological addition to the ARTS," Sigmund replied. "I'll be trailing you, though in case you need help."

At that moment Clank noticed another door, slightly ajar, at the end of the sea of papers he was standing in. The only reason he even saw it was because of the sound of a chair scraping against the floor in the room caught his attention.

"You can head in there, sir. You have free reign." Sigmund told him.

"Uh okay, here I go," Clank said, now feeling a bit uneasy for some reason. He began wading through the The Paper Sea again, towards the door. "Where am I, anyway?"

"Well, I'm accessing the neurowaves the ARTS picked up from you, and it seems that you thought of a reality where the lombaxes had never left Polaris…"

"…so I am on planet Fastoon." Clank muttered. He hadn't meant to use the ARTS yet, and the lombaxes existing in another reality was the first thing to pop up, considering how he'd been thinking about Ratchet.

But wait…that meant—

Clank mentally slapped himself. "Of course, that explains all of the mess around here. I am in an alternate Ratchet's home!"

He began moving towards the door, eager to see an alternate version of his friend. Would he still look the same? Have the same personality?

"Uh, just to remind you sir, this is an alternate reality…" Sigmund told him. "So…don't expect everything to be the same, or even similar to our reality…"Clank paused, listening as Sigmund continued, "…considering that Ratchet never met you in this one."

Oh…that was true…if the lombaxes hadn't left under Tachyon's influence, then Ratchet would have never met him. That dampened Clank's excitement a bit, but he still pushed towards the door and peeked around it. In the room he spotted a figure hunched over underneath a lamp light, its right hand moving furious as it apparently wrote down matters of utmost importance—that would have the same fate as the other matters of utmost importance Clank had to literally swim through on the way there.

The robot looked down, seeing the familiar brown and golden segmented tail ending in a furry tuft. It was tapping on the floor erratically, which was a common mannerism of his Ratchet when he was thinking hard or on an "Inventor's Roll," as he liked to call it sometimes. Clank stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"…Ratchet?"

The tail and the hand paused, and the figure slowly pulled back up to turn to the disturbance. His profile was only presented to the robot, and Clank was slightly surprised to see this Ratchet looking a tad bit older than he expected. Like, in his late thirties old—at least that what the contours in his face told him. A single, emerald green eye glared at him, its host annoyed at being disturbed. At that point, Sigmund stepped in.

"Sir, that's not—"

"Who're you?"

Clank flinched a bit at the harshness in the lombax's voice; now that he heard him speak, it really didn't sound like Ratchet…but it did have a similar pitch, albeit lower…

The robot's eyes widened as he realized that he wasn't speaking to an alternate version of his friend, but an alternate version of his friend's _father._

Speaking of whom suddenly swiveled around in his chair all the way, scrutinizing the robot in front of him. Kaden's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Are you going to answer? And while you're at it, explain how you got in without me hearing you."

"I…uh…I…" Clank couldn't find anything reasonable thing to say, let alone say anything at all. He was still trying to get over the fact that he was talking to Ratchet's dad. In another reality, but still…he already reminded Clank of his version of Ratchet due to his cautious nature. But something seemed off, like Kaden was upset at something; Clank could only guess that the lombax in front of him was agitated because he was showing the tell-tale signs of annoyance present in his friend: twitching ears, one eyebrow lowered while the other raised, and as he stood up, his posture told everything and everybody within a ten mile radius to fuck off and leave him alone. Clank couldn't help but to step back as Kaden approached him; Kaden, unlike Ratchet, had stretched to a good height of at least six feet, making him tower over the robot. By now, his glare had intensified to a snarl that made itself visible in the form of white teeth being barely visible near the corners of his mouth.

"I'm waiting." Kaden said, and by the tone of his voice Clank could tell that he really wasn't.

"I'm…er, a friend of your son." Clank said quickly. Here Kaden's eyebrows rose.

"Oh, really? He hasn't really strayed from the small group of friends he has and I don't remember him telling me that he was close to a tiny little robot like you," The lombax looked to the side, his arms folded. "Then again, he doesn't tell me much of anything these days."

Clank's mind was racing; so much had happened in the past five minutes and he was talking to Ratchet's dad in an alternate universe and it was so mind blowing he couldn't keep it in—

"Would you like to talk about it?" The robot blurted suddenly, then as Kaden covered his ears, he bashfully added, "Oh…I am sorry, I did not indent to vocalize so loudly…"

The lombax's mood shifted to a much more pleasant one at that moment, and Clank had a feeling that it was related to the prospect of someone who just wanted a nice chat with him.

A nice, friendly chat without any hostility.

The lombax gave Clank that familiar, cocky, smile-scowl that he was used to seeing on his Ratchet's face; in any case they were both sitting on Kaden's plush bed in the next thirty seconds. The lombax had now resorted to an empty silence, as if he didn't know what to say. Clank could see his eyes darting back and forth between himself and the floor. The robot casually broke the silence like he was usually so good at doing.

"So, um…how are things for you?"

Usually.

Kaden's mouth split in a small smile at Clank's attempt to get him to talk. Hell, at least the robot was speaking to him…he'd be the first in a while to do so.

"Well, now that you ask, Mr. Shiny, things aren't going so well for me," the lombax replied, clasping his hands together. "I hate to break it to you, but coming to my house isn't the first place you should come to if you're looking for my son."

Here Clank's interest peaked, and he asked, "Why not?"

Kaden remained silent for a while, then said, "He's usually training with my best friend or out on an outing with his girlfriend."

Clank had been listening to everything up to that point but as soon as Kaden said the word 'girlfriend' he cut in, _"Girlfriend?!"_

The adult lombax looked at him in confusion. "Yes, is that a surprise to you?"

"Well…uh…"_ Yes_, Clank thought furiously. _Who was this girlfriend that Ratchet had?_

Then he had to remind himself he was in an alternate reality, and not his own. The robot simmered down before realizing how upset he was. Upset and…jealous?

_Am I jealous?_

"I can see why, though," Kaden continued, oblivious to Clank's silent rant, "Not everyone can hook up with a talented doctor like Miss Cross."

"Angela?" Clank asked, before covering his mouth; he wasn't supposed to know that. He wasn't supposed to know anything about Ratchet's close relations—and Kaden noticed that. The lombax cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Angela Cross. You know, for someone I've only just met, let alone seen on Fastoon, you sure seem to know a lot about my son."

"Uh, he's starting to get suspicious of you, sir." Sigmund lamely told Clank, who nodded slightly and had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from replying to the red robot to avoid anymore skeptical looks from Kaden. Who, by any rate, still seemed to get wary of the robot the longer they sat in silence looking at one another. The lombax had now shifted so he was facing Clank directly.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" Kaden asked suddenly, surprising Clank. The robot hadn't expected that question.

"Uh…my name is…Cl—Klunk," Clank stuttered. Kaden's eyes narrowed again.

"Your _serial number_, Klunk."

"I…I do not know…"

The lombax stood up suddenly, backing away from Clank with a distrustful look. "You don't know," Kaden repeated. He summoned an Omniwrench from behind his back, swiping the air with it as he yelled, _"You don't know?!"_

Clank jumped down, waving his hands in the 'calm down' gesture, "Yes, I am afraid my memory banks have been severely damaged."

"Don't lie to me! Every mechanic knows that no matter how badly a robot's memory banks are damaged, they'll still know their serial number because it's permanently encrypted in them—it's like their DNA!"

Clank mentally cursed himself; he had known that, but had conceived the lie so fast he hadn't caught it. And now, Kaden was literally about to blow his top at him. Not like he could get affected by anything in this alternate reality like Sigmund said, but still.

"You're a spy, aren't you?" Kaden shot at him. "I bet you were created by Percival Tachyon's 'technological advancements'," he made quotes in the air, rolling his eyes, "If you want to call them that. I still don't know why Alister even trusted him enough to work with him. I managed to convince him not to work with Tachyon about two decades ago," Kaden glared at Clank, "but now, my only _son_ has also sided with them instead of me, his own father. I told them that I didn't trust Tachyon, but they were so caught up in their cloud of collaborative, _innovative_, **_theories_** that they didn't see the dangers of siding with a _Cragmite_!" Kaden's voice had risen gradually, and Clank could most definitely see that the lombax had been waiting to vent his frustrations out to someone. For a very, very long time.

"Sir, someone's…coming!" Sigmund said overhead, "Two someones, actually."

"Hold on." Clank muttered, and Kaden continued, not hearing the robot. The golden lombax fell back against the wall, tilting his head up to the ceiling. It was almost like he was lost in his own cloud of thought.

"Everyone thinks that I'm crazy."

Clank could only open his mouth in slight surprise.

"_'Kaden, you're being too cautious!', 'Kaden, stop being paranoid!', 'Kaden, you're a smart lombax but you're still not taking a chance like this?'_" The human like feline mocked, then sighed as he added, "Or how about these three?" He clasped his hands together again, raising his left leg up behind him in the stereotypical 'girlie' fashion and pitching his voice higher, "_'Kaden, you've been so uptight lately! What's the matter, Dear?_'" The lombax dropped the feminine act, replying aloud, "Oh, I don't know,_ dear!_ You left me before we could even sit down and discuss this entire matter!"

_Even his wife?_ Clank thought, shocked.

Kaden broadened his shoulders, and deepened his voice, "_'Kaden, you should really think about this opportunity. I've known you my whole life but I've still been too inconsiderate to think about your feelings!'_"

The lombax once more returned to himself, this time stating, "I'm sorry Alister, I just don't think that teaming up with the biggest enemy of our species is the best idea ever, if only you listened to me."

Alister Azimuth… Clank thought, beginning to see with pity the entire situation. Kaden had had those closest to him turn their backs to him, it seemed. But something was off…Kaden had said that twenty years had passed ever since Azimuth first tried striking up a deal with Tachyon—that was the first time, and from what he gathered from Kaden's rant, the Ratchet of this universe managed persuade Alister Azimuth to work with Tachyon again after that twenty years, against his dad's wishes.

At this point, Kaden pitched his voice higher, and Clank heard Ratchet's voice, a scarily perfect mimic of it.

"Oh, dad, if _only_ you knew how much you were missing out on. I don't know why you backed away from this opportunity twenty years ago, but thank goodness I grew up and managed to convince Alister to take this chance again. You wouldn't believe all of the ideas and concepts the two of us came up with along with Tachyon."

For a minute, it struck Clank as odd how Kaden was speaking but the lombax's mouth had been open halfway in slight shock. Then it hit him, and he turned his head slowly towards the doorframe, the true source of the voice.

There stood this reality's Ratchet, his arms folded as he leaned against the doorframe. The cocky grin on his face only made the jab at his father seem even more condescending. Clank found himself frowning; he could already tell that this Ratchet was a naturally bigger jerk than his. Ratchet (if that was even his name in this timeline) smirked at the half surprised, half hurt look on his father's face before finally turning his attention towards Clank. His grin morphed into a grimace to match the one of the robot facing him.

"And who's this? Some sort of old service droid that someone abandoned?"

Clank's mouth dropped. Oh yeah. Jerk of the Year, standing right in front of him.

"I am no service droid. I have more capabilities than that." He only got a smirk in response, so he continued, "It is hard to believe that you are the son of an intelligent inventor yet you hold no thought processing capabilities. Your brain must have some key defects in the area of common sense."

Ratchet's smile faded as he unfolded his arms. He stalked past his still stunned dad, stopping several feet in front of Clank, who stood his ground. The younger lombax kneeled down, lowering his head to Clank's level.

"Listen here,_ tin can,_" Ratchet snarled, catching Clank off guard again—tin can was a nickname used by his reality's Ratchet in a now affectionate manner, not one of contempt as this, "I don't know who or what you are, but you've got some nerve coming to my dad's house and insulting me."

"Like you care for him!" Clank shot back. "You have not spoken to your father in ages. Do you know how much stress he is under? You are far too egotistical to care for others than yourself!"

"Is everything alright in here?"

The trio turned their attention to the door again, now being occupied by a white lombax with red markings. He held a double ended wrench in his hand, which he now stowed on his back as he entered the room. "I heard a commotion." Alister took sight of Clank, who was staring at him in shock, "Who's that?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Ratchet said, turning his head back to Clank. "So, did he just spontaneously appear here or something?"

It tool Clank a second to realize that Ratchet's question was directed at his own dad, yet had spoken to him without giving him a single glance. Kaden seemed surprised by this as well, then his face took on a look of anger as he remained silent, not answering his son.

"Dad? Hello?" Ratchet asked, still not looking at him, instead keeping his eyes locked onto Clank's.

"Kaden?" Alsiter asked, but he got the same treatment. The white lombax went over to the golden one, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Kaden, are you alright?"

"_What_, are you finally speaking to me? Why don't you go talk with your good buddy_ Tachyon_?" Kaden spat suddenly, pushing Alister away. Ratchet's head turned and he stood up, "Dad, what's your deal?"

"You!" Kaden snapped, making Ratchet blanch. He pointed at Alister, "And you! The _both_ of you!"

"Kaden, hold on, we just came to—"

"Talk? Alister, you've been _talking_ to Tachyon more than you have to me these past few years, and when I needed you the most you still ignore me and now you want to_ talk_?" Kaden snarled. "Do you know how much danger you're putting our race in? Teaming up with a Cragmite, presenting our technology to him—for all you know, he could be building an army right beneath our noses, waiting to strike at the _perfect_ moment!"

"He's not, dad!" Ratchet cut in angrily, "Not everyone that you don't know had evil intentions, you know! It's not like he's going to turn on us, after all these years!"

"All the technological advancements we've made, Kaden—they're amazing, far beyond what our own technology can do itself." Alister told him. "We…should have gotten together twenty years ago and started then, and we could've had our race accelerate ahead of others using our technology. We could solve the mystery that surrounds the Time Keeper. Isn't that what you want to do, Kaden?"

"Don't talk to me about that!" Kaden snapped, "If you hadn't noticed, I'm solving that mystery just fine by myself. I'm pretty sure you even stepped on some of my more important notes just to get in here."

"You've always been a deadbeat, dad. Never wanting to try anything new." Ratchet snapped at him. "Good thing I managed to convince the General to retry that idea of teaming up with Tachyon. You probably would've said no again, just like you did all those years ago when I was born. I could've had a rocket powered baby carriage, for corn's sake!"

"That's all you do. Think about yourself and not be concerned with the welfare of others." Kaden told him, "I don't know what your mom and I did wrong when we were raising you, but you sure do lack a concept of caring for others and having sympathy. I know that guilt and solitude can be a very poisonous combination, and if that were inflicted on you," Kaden let out a humorless chuckle, "Well, considering your personality now I wouldn't put it past you to kill someone near and dear to you if you don't get your way."

At that moment, Clank had a strange sense of recognition. Guilt and solitude, a dangerous combination…that seemed oddly relatable in a way…

_My reality's Alister Azimuth…was inflicted by that. And that was what ultimately led him to almost killing…_

Clank shook his head, ridding his head of that unfavorable memory.

That was it. In this timeline, Ratchet's personality was almost a carbon copy of Alister Azimuth's, with a few touches that, in fact made it worst—

It made him a bit sad and scared him a little. His best friend was figuratively dead in this reality.

"Sir?"

Clank looked to his right and saw Sigmund floating next to him, watching the trio of lombaxes argue in front of him.

"See what I mean, sir? He's not…" Sigmund fell silent, letting that speak for itself.

"I don't get why you're so upset with me, dad!"

"I'm upset because you don't care! You don't care for others! I'm trying—to protect you! You and every other lombax on this planet! And you go against me and do the very thing I warned you not to do!" Kaden suddenly glared daggers at Azimuth. "And you _let him_. You let a child change the fate of our entire race! What were you thinking, Alister?! He doesn't know enough about the dangers of the universe to team up with just anyone!"

"I was just trying to take things into a new direction, Kaden! Can't you see that?! Obviously not!" Alister shot back.

"There's a difference between taking things in a new direction and taking things in a new direction while being careless!" Kaden told him. "And you've proved to me you've got the problem solving skills of a child. Now I think I finally know where you rubbed off from, son."

"Oh, so you're blaming me for his decisions and actions? He's an adult!"

"He's still a young adult! Young adults think they know everything, but they don't! Can't_ you_ see that?_ Obviously not!_"

"Sir…can I show you something else?" Sigmund asked. Clank nodded, wanting to be away from this situation as fast as possible.

"Okay, hold on—we're going to the future in this reality. Approximately one month from the place in time you just landed in."

The world winked out again—and was replaced with a fiery inferno of color as soon as they arrived. They were standing directly in a completely burning wasteland—even the sky was tainted with a smoky black color. There were fallen and destroyed buildings all over the place, piles of rubble everywhere from decimated structures—the place had been horribly leveled. Clank looked around in shock, hearing screams of terror all over—there were feline shaped figures running away, heading for a giant courtyard in the distance. There were shots being fired all over as Drophyd soldiers were shooting to kill, chasing down any lombax that they saw and attacking without hesitation. Then Clank understood.

"This is when…"

"…Tachyon invaded Fastoon." Sigmund finished somberly. "However, as you just heard, this happened about two decades later than what happened in our reality. That's why Ratchet was here as an adult, because his dad managed to convince Azimuth to not work with Tachyon way back when. But then, it was true…" Sigmund shook his head, his eyes glowing from the light of all the flames around them, "Ratchet grew up and managed to convince Alister to get back with Tachyon and work with him. In this timeline, it was Ratchet who dug the grave of his race."

"…what happened to him in this timeline?" Clank asked. Sigmund casually counted to three on his hand, then pointed directly above himself; Clank looked up at the sound of an explosion, two identical pained yells, and two bodies flying though the air— right over them and landing hard on the ground nearby. As the robots got closer, they saw not only Kaden, but his son as well.

"I told you." Kaden ground out, struggling to push himself up; Ratchet did the same, not saying a word and keeping an eye on the giant mech that launched itself off of the building that they had just been blasted from. It landed with a heavy thud on the ground, making the two lombaxes stumble to the ground yet again. Clank and Sigmund looked up, spotting the midget perched on the throne wave it scepter disapprovingly at Kaden and Ratchet.

"Stupid boy. You should have just listened to your father!" Tachyon taunted. "The only thing he had done was technically postpone my invasion for about twenty years. Good thing you came along and convinced that idiot Alister Azimuth to allow me access to all of your race's secrets."

"Eat dirt, Tachyon." Ratchet growled, forcing himself up again.

"You'll be the one eating dirt soon, lombax. You and every other single pitiful member of your race that I find after," Tachyon haughtily eyed Kaden, who'd been silent. "The Keeper of the Dimensionator tells me its whereabouts."

"Over my dead body, Tachyon." Kaden smirked, "You're not winning so easily. Even after I die, you still won't be able to find it. I made sure that it would be difficult to track."

"You insolent creature!" Tachyon screamed, his temper already boiling over. Flames danced in his eyes furiously as he stood up to his full height, threateningly pointing his scepter down at Kaden. "Tell me, or else!"

"Or else _what?_" Kaden bellowed back. "What more can you possibly do to me? You've already killed numerous others, including my wife, and you've destroyed our city! You better get used to living with the fact that you can't get the Dimensionator, because only I know where it is!"  
Tachyon's mech reared up, pinning the adult lombax down to the gorund with one foot. Kaden screamed out in pain, trying in vain to pull the mech's limb off him.

"**DAD!**" Ratchet screamed. _"Let—him—go!_"

"Your dad is about to go up to that wonderful Place in the Sky, lombax. And he has you to thank for it. _You_ did this to him!" Tachyon shrieked at the younger lombax; Kaden's arms were shaking as the mech continued to put pressure on him. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped fighting and let his arms drop to his side.

"Awww, look, he's already fading fast," Tachyon cooed. "You better say goodbye to him, lombax, because he won't be around much longer."

"Dad, I'm sorry, please don't—" A flustered son approached his dying father, truly feeling nothing more than remorse at that point. His dad held up a weak hand, silencing his son.

"—don't…be sorry…" Kaden told him, straining to speak. He paused, taking in several quick, shallow breaths.

"What?! Dad, I caused all this! He's right! You're right! I did this to everyone!" Ratchet let his hands drop into his lap, shaking his head. "I…I…was only…I just wanted…"

"…you focused... too much on how good things could become…instead of thinking of others…a mistake…" Kaden said weakly. "…a mistake…a very big one…but I'm not…upset with you anymore."

"You're not?" Ratchet murmured; Clank could see tears welling in the lombax's eyes from where he was, "But…but…why?"

Kaden gave his son a faint smile. "Because…you learned your lesson…and that's good enough for me…" The lombax's eyes closed. "Goodbye…for now, son."

"Dad, I'm so sorry." The younger lombax sounded extremely close to tears, and had been guaranteed to break down then and there had Tachyon not blasted him with a beam of concentrated energy from his throne. Ratchet was thrown away from his father's body, landing several feet away, and he was suddenly confronted by the Cragmite yet again.

"I hope you can live with yourself, lombax." Tachyon teased. "I know being mostly responsible for the death of everyone close to you and causing your race to appear as cowardly and scared as they really are must weigh heavily on one's shoulders."

"Shut up!" Ratchet snarled back; he pulled his Omniwrench out, ready to lunge forward and attack with all he had. Tachyon scoffed.

"As if you can do something with that. Today's your lucky day, though! You get to live!" The Cragmite jumped up suddenly, spreading his arms out in mock joy.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Simply as that, bolts for brains. I think I would be happier with the fact of letting you live with your failure instead of dying. It seems more dramatic to me."

"Tachyon,_ don't play games with me!_" Ratchet bellowed. "Fight me!"

"I've _been_ playing games with you, idiot boy!" The Cragmite snorted at him. "With you and that dunderhead General. I had you both fooled into thinking that I was a reliable and trusting ally, (pfft, as if) and the rest of your kind believed it too. Your father must've felt very alone and desolate the final years of his life. You really should've listened to him. Now I've won, because I will find the Dimensionator."

The mech backed up as Tachyon prepared to leave. The Cragmite waved at Ratchet mockingly. "Goodbye. I hope that you don't waste away by yourself. If you're lucky you may be able to find a lombax that I haven't killed yet."

"Tachyon!"

The mech galloped off, leaving Ratchet behind in a cloud of anger and distress. "You coward, GET BACK HERE! _Damn-_**you!**"

The lombax hurled his wrench to the ground so hard the shaft spilt from the head, and the wrench landed in two pieces on the ground. Ratchet sunk to his knees, his hands pulling down over his ears as he tried holding his sobs in. Clank and Sigmund slowly and cautiously approached him, both rendering themselves visible to the alternate lombax. Ratchet looked up and through his tears spotted Clank and Sigmund.

"Why didn't you listen?" Clank raised his arms up, then let them drop. "Why?"

"You again." Ratchet said halfheartedly, looking defeated. That look- that defeated look is what pushed Clank over the edge.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN?!" The robot grabbed Ratchet by the front of his shirt, only capable of pulling the lombax's face closer to him. "Now they are all gone! It is your fault, Ratchet! You were only thinking of yourself!"

The lombax looked confused and hurt at the robot's verbal attack, but he did not say anything. Clank released him, stepping back in disgust.

"You only care for yourself, and that is why you are in the position you are now. Everyone you know is either gone or dead. Your friends, family—thanks to you."

"I never had true friends. Never thought I needed them," Ratchet replied somberly, looking downcast. "Even Angela seemed to just…fade away from me."

"I can see that." Clank retorted smartly. "You never really had anyone to tell you how to care for others beside yourself either. That is a lesson that I hope you have learned, Ratchet." He turned to Sigmund. "Let us go back to our reality, Sigmund."

"Alright sir, just move your hands over your eyes…"

"Hey, tin can—"

Clank lowered his hands and looked at Ratchet. "What is it?"

"My name's not Ratchet."

Clank stood in silence for a minute, then made to pull the goggles from his eyes. "Pardon me for that. I mistook you for my best friend."

* * *

"Well, did you like it, sir?" Sigmund removed his goggles and he took them along with Clank's and stored them in the machine.

Clank lowered his head towards the ground, shaking it. In all truthfulness, viewing that reality may have just been one of the most frightening things he'd seen. Not just because of the events that took place, but…his best friend…

…was _not_ his best friend.

"So. That is what Ratchet would have turned out like, had we not met." Sigmund nodded at Clank's breakthrough, feeling sorry for the smaller robot. He should've let Clank use the machine, he knew.

"Sir, I just want to say, think of this." Sigmund put his hands on Clank's shoulders. "You are very lucky. I spent about a month using that machine, day after day, exploring other realities, seeing the different possibilities that branch of from our timeline—you do realize we're in the timeline that others are influenced by?"

"What does that mean?"

"Think of our reality as of being a mom, and these other versions of you and Ratchet and their realities as children. Without our reality, the others couldn't exist. They branch off from ours, whether if they're different timelines."

"I see…are you implying that in other realities, unfavorable things have happened?"

Sigmund nodded, looking troubled. "Ones where you two never meet are the worst…there are some where he...he dies when he's out searching for you during those two years…"

Clank seized up, realizing the calamity of Sigmund's words. He was lucky, far more than he previously imagined.

"…there are happier ones where you two are friends, but then something happens to one of you and you guys break apart…and the one where," Sigmund's voice got softer, "…the one where Alister Azimuth killed him and…and you couldn't pull time back—"

"Please stop, Sigmund." Clank told him, his shoulders drooping. "I have heard enough. You are right. I should be even more thankful now. Ratchet is my friend, and is still alive, here, with me, and we can still do things together…and we have taught each other something that we can carry on for the rest of our lives…"

Sigmund nodded towards the door, and Clank turned his head to see about a dozen Zoni fly in, all chattering excitedly. Every now and again the robots would hear a "Yayyy~!" or "_Whee!_".

"Looks like he's done, that's why they're so excited!" Sigmund said. Clank suddenly ran forward, stopping in the middle of the room as he saw his best friend make an appearance at the door—fighting off the excited energy creatures around him.

"…hey, can you not pull my tail? I know you're excited, but—ow! Hey, give me my wrench, I have three payments to make on that—!" Ratchet caught sight of Clank standing, facing him emotionlessly, and the lombax broke out into a friendly grin. Ducking and dodging the happy Zoni, he came up to the robot and kneeled down. "Hey, pal. Sorry it took me so long, I had some trouble adjust the quantum stabilizers—"

He was suddenly cut off as Clank tackled him, squeezing the lombax's waist in the tightest hug he could muster.

* * *

**_What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it - would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have._**

**_-Ralph Marston _**


End file.
